Love or Lust?
by Muggle Jane
Summary: A collection of drabbles with different pairings for Amber's Valentine Drabble Collection Competition. Features Lucius/Alice, Vernon/Petunia, Percy/Audrey, Cho/Luna, Pansy/Daphne
1. Hidden

**A/N: A collection of drabbles for Amber's Valentine Drabble Competition. I don't own any characters/canon situations, etc.**

**Pairing: Lucius/Alice, prompt: hidden. Also written for the Duct Tape Challenge (checkerboard) and the Cinema Competition (Beauty and the Beast)**

She was aware that he was suddenly standing behind her like he had apparated there, the same way he had when they were in school. "You won't find anything, Alice," he murmured to her, his low voice flooding her with memories of things she'd tried desperately to forget.

She briefly closed her eyes, her hands stilling in their search of his desk. "I didn't think I would, Mr Malfoy, but Arthur requested we search all the same."

He made a tsking noise and she felt his hand come up and rest familiarly on her hip. "Lucius, pet. When did I become 'Mr Malfoy?'"

"When you married Narcissa."

"An obligation, nothing more." His voice seemed to caress her from the inside out.

"When you turned to darkness." Her eyes narrowed.

"You enjoy my darkness. There's no reason we can't carry on as we always have."

"Just because you don't take your marriage seriously, doesn't mean I don't." She whirled on him. He was so close that she bumped into his chest and his other hand came up to grip her arm, steadying her. "And I'm seeing someone."

"Ah, one of your fellow _brave_ Aurors, no doubt." A sneer twisted his mouth.

"Yes," she replied, staring defiantly at him.

"And does this epitome of wizarding citizenry have a name?"

"Frank."

"Longbottom, I presume." When she didn't say anything, his lips curved up into a predatory smile. "Such a quiet young man, does he know how much you enjoy the _darker_ side of seduction?" His grip tightened on her arm and his face loomed closer to hers, close enough that their breath mingled together. "Does he know you like-"

Her hand came up between them and struck his face sharply, leaving the red imprint of her palm on his smooth cheek. She glared up at him, her breasts heaving with fury. _How dare he!_

A pale eyebrow arched. "Foreplay, pet?" He easily snagged her wrist when she drew back to hit him again. "If you insist." He moved her arm behind her back, manipulating it to the point of discomfort. His lips came down cruelly on hers, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth.

She was kissing him back, she couldn't help it. They'd been doing this since fifth year at Hogwarts, when he'd cornered her in a secluded alcove and done much the same thing he was doing right now. She'd promised herself it would stop when his engagement was announced, and then again when he'd been married. And this time, she'd kept her word to herself. _Until now._

"Malfoy!"

He was away from her so quickly she felt his long hair brush against her cheek. Arthur Weasley stuck his head in the room. "There you are, Alice. Find anything hidden away?"

She shook her head, resisting the urge to straighten her clothing.

He frowned, then turned to the smug-looking blond wizard. "We'll keep coming back until we do," he warned.

"Do," came the amused invitation.

Alice used the distraction to leave the room in as dignified a manner as she could._ Never again_.


	2. Funeral

**A/N: Pairing: Petunia/Vernon, Prompt: funeral. Also written for the Cinema Competition (The Lovely Bones)**

Petunia sat down heavily, the letter clutched tightly in her fingers. She looked over at the basket still containing her baby nephew and sniffed audibly.

"What is it?" her husband asked, eying the basket as though he expected it to jump out and bite him.

"Lily has been killed." She kept her features carefully schooled in a neutral expression, but she had a very queer feeling in her heart. Even after all of the times they'd been at odds- Lily's weird friends, her strange and arrogant husband- Lily was, after all, her only sister.

Vernon grunted as though his wife had just announced that the milk delivery would be late. "Suppose that wastrel's died too, has he? Do that lot have funerals, then? It would be the proper thing to go," he hedged, sounding entirely displeased at the prospect.

She shook her head. "There won't be a funeral." It just wasn't right. Her sister had been spirited away into that _other_ world and now Petunia was being denied the chance to say goodbye to her own family by the same people.

A quiet noise from the basket made Vernon jump and cast a suspicious look at it. He hadn't come close enough to see what was in it, but he seemed very disturbed by the idea that there was something _alive_ in there.

"What is that?" he demanded.

"Harry."

His face started taking on a mottled puce complexion. "Oh, no!" he shouted. "I won't have the son of that layabout in my house. He's probably inherited the same lazy ways. Not in my house, Petunia!" His jowls shook with the force of his determined anger.

The shouting woke up the baby in the basket, and he sat up and began to cry. "Mummy!" came the anguished wail from the black-haired little boy.

"Hush!" Petunia reproved her husband. "Now you've woken him up." She had to raise her voice to be heard over the toddler's cries. "There's no help for it, Vernon. He's got to stay here." She refused to elaborate on why their nephew had to stay with them or the other contents of the letter. Somewhat begrudgingly, she got up and lifted her nephew out of the basket, cradling him awkwardly in an effort to quiet him. She looked up and Vernon's face was filled with displeasure. Her own expression softened. "We don't have to tell him," she said placatingly. "He doesn't need to know."

This seemed to somewhat mollify her husband. "Don't have to tell him. Right. Good. We won't, then." His bushy eyebrows came together with determination. "We've got to make sure he doesn't end up a shiftless layabout like his father, Petunia. I won't have it."

"All right," she agreed quickly. The boy had quieted and she set him down on the floor.

A loud cry pulled her attention into the kitchen. "FOOD!"

A smile lit up her face and she moved towards the source of the noise, her nephew quite forgotten. "Mummy's coming, Duddykins." She and Vernon moved into the kitchen, abandoning Harry in the sitting room.


	3. Forgiven

**A/N: Pairing- Percy/Audrey, Prompt- forgiven**

Percy sat stiffly on the edge of the chair, staring at the cold fireplace. He heard Audrey, his beautiful Audrey, walk up behind him, felt her lovingly rest her hands on his tense shoulders. He lifted a hand to cover one of her own and his eyes closed briefly when she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his hand.

"It's time to go," she told him softly.

"I know." But still he made no movement.

Her hands shifted, moving down over his chest and around him as she bent over to wrap her arms around him. "You know they've forgiven you," she told him quietly, her soft hair brushing against the smooth line of his jaw.

"I know."

"You haven't forgiven yourself," she whispered, and he shook his head. She knew him so well, she always seemed to know exactly what he was feeling before he was able to put it into words. He wasn't as easy with his emotions as the rest of the family was.

He missed them. He wanted nothing more than to floo through to his childhood home, to take his old place at the table, squeezed in between Audrey and Charlie. To eat and laugh and carry on five conversations at once, to barely have enough room to use his utensils, to have his younger brothers tease him, to watch Ginny blush the way she did so easily.

The last time he'd been there, he'd had mashed parsnips flung at him. But that had been some time ago. That had been before he'd held Fred's lifeless body. That had been before he'd killed people. "I was so horrible."

She didn't deny it. She knew there was no point in lying to him about it. "It's the holidays, Percy. You know how much your mum wants to have the family together on the holidays again."

It was true. Mum had flooed him desperately once or twice a week since Halloween to make sure he was still planning on going there for Christmas dinner. She'd even gone so far as to make Audrey promise to have him there.

"They won't all be there, will they?" Guilt. Why had it been Fred? Fred hadn't deserved to die. Fred wasn't the one who'd deserted his family on the say-so of some outsider. Fred wasn't the one who had used his Mum's eagerness to see him again to inveigle a pointless meeting between Scrimgeour and Harry.

She kissed the side of his neck, her arms tightening around him for a moment. "That's why they need you there, Percy. They need you as much as you need them. You're family."

"You're right, of course." She was always right. It was one of the reasons he loved her so much. She came in with cool logic and reason and helped him see the other side of things he was stuck on. "We should go."

He stood up beside her and took her hand, letting her lead him to the fire.


	4. Numb

**A/N: Pairing- Cho/Luna, Prompt- numb**

Cho wasn't really surprised when she reached over and felt the empty space on the bed beside her. She opened her eyes to sit up and look around the room, and had to smile when she saw the cup of tea sitting on the bedside table, waiting for her. She was not an early riser, but Luna liked to get up and watch the sunrise every morning, and her girlfriend was thoughtful enough to leave a cup of tea waiting for her each day. It was winter now, which meant that Luna would be coming back to bed just as soon as she was done outside.

She pushed the pillows up behind her on the bed and picked up the cup of tea. It was the perfect temperature, thanks to the charm Luna had put on all of their dishes to keep food the desired temperature. She had said it was necessary, given that she often got caught up in what she was doing and would forget about eating until long after meal time. That was one of the first things Cho had had to get used to. Luna's missing presence at mealtimes wasn't a slight against her, it was just that she got so focused and would lose track of time. Sometimes, Cho had to go interrupt her to make sure she ate, and she was always sweetly grateful and apologetic.

The bedroom door, left open when Luna had left that morning, was pushed open all the way to the wall, and Luna came in, her long blond hair a sodden, dripping mass. "Oh, good morning!" she greeted Cho brightly. "My feet are almost numb, it's quite cold out this morning."

"Maybe they wouldn't be if you wore shoes." It was a useless reminder, Luna hardly ever wore shoes anymore.

"Why would I do that?" She seemed genuinely curious about the answer.

Cho smiled. "Come back to bed, it's nice and warm in here," she invited.

With a wave of her wand at her long hair to dry it, the blond witch took off the nightgown that she'd already dried and slipped back between the sheets. She snuggled up, her head on Cho's shoulder and her arm draped across her.

Cho winced when her girlfriend's chilled skin contacted her own, but she slipped her arms around the other woman's waist and held her close. "How was it?"

"Well, I couldn't see the sun because it was raining too hard, but it was very dark and then it got very light. I don't suggest we go anywhere today, it's not at all pleasant to be outside right now."

"What do you think we should do today, then?"

"I think we should stay in bed."

She had to smile, and tightened her hold around Luna. "That sounds perfect."


	5. Unpredictable

**A/N: Pairing- Daphne/Pansy, Prompt- Unpredictable**

After a quick look across the ballroom, Pansy rolled her eyes. She was so tired of all of this. The meaningless platitudes, the sycophants, the absolute bullshit while everyone did their level best to pretend that they had nothing to do with the old pureblood ideals, or any connection to the side of the war that had lost. People who had family members in Azkaban all pretended that they didn't, and those people were never brought up- or if they were, it was in a vague way. Like when Draco's father had asked Mrs Nott, "How is the family doing?" Everyone knew what it meant, but having family members imprisoned wasn't something that was brought up in polite company.

Pansy sighed. What she needed was a distraction. Something fun, something that would liven things up. Something like... Daphne. A smile lifted her mouth out of its petulant pout. Her former schoolmate had just finished dancing with the ever-impeccable Blaise Zabini and was now having a drink.

She stood and moved over to her auburn-haired friend. "I haven't seen you in a while, Daphne."

She loved the way the beautiful girl's eyes sparkled when she smiled. "Pansy, it's been entirely too long."

She brushed her hand lightly over Daphne's shoulder, bare except for the thin strap of her deep green dress. "You look pretty tonight, I love that dress on you." She forestalled further comment by leaning forward and whispering, "I'd like it even better on my floor."

A tinge of pink colored her friend's cheeks. But she was raised properly and she kept her expression under control, a polite smile in place while she murmured, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Pansy let the tips of her fingers drift down Daphne's bare arm, not bothering to hide her smirk at the gooseflesh that trailed along after.

"You're too unpredictable. Last time I woke up in the morning without even a note, and you haven't spoken to me in weeks."

"Has anyone else ever made you scream like that?"

The pink tinge darkened to a delicious shade of red that spread down her neck and across her breasts, disappearing under the satiny material of that dress. Daphne took a drink to avoid answering the question.

"Come outside with me for just a moment, I could use some air." She knew the other young woman would know exactly what she meant by the question. Taking the lack of protest for acquiescence, she looped her arm around Daphne and drew her toward the far end of the room, where it opened up onto a terrace. She moved until they were tucked behind a hedge, out of view of the ballroom, and plucked the drink from Daphne's hand to set it on the ground.

She pulled the other woman against her, her lips quickly finding that spot on Daphne's neck that drove her wild. "Let me take you home," she murmured.

It was just a moment before her friend nodded, and then they were gone, the only hint that they'd been there was Daphne's mostly-full goblet standing alone on the ground.


End file.
